Defecting party legislators can be disqualified, says Aitzaz

Former senator says extent of disqualification could be close to lifetime ineligibility

LAHORE:

Days after legislators belonging to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) openly rebelled against the ruling party, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader and seasoned lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan on Saturday said that a legislator has to sacrifice their assembly seat if they vote against the party’s policy.

“The extent of disqualification has not been determined but it could be close to ineligibility for life,” the former senator said.

According to the procedure, Aitzaz said, the party chief would serve a show-cause notice to the defecting member and later the speaker would write a letter to the Election Commission against the member, seeking their disqualification.

He, however, added that the member would retain their seat till the final decision of the commission.
The issue of defection has surfaced recently, quickly becoming the focus of a debate in the wake of the opposition parties’ no-trust motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Read: PTI dissidents issued show-cause notices

Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) Khalid Javed Khan has said that the presidential reference for the interpretation of the defection clause of the Constitution of Pakistan will be moved before the Supreme Court (SC).

The AGP, while speaking to a private news channel, said that he was working on the said presidential reference to interpret Article 63-A.

“The debate on Article 63-A will ultimately come to an end after the Supreme Court’s opinion,” he added.